If authors Holly Schmidt and Allan Penn have anything to say about it, those last three ingredients will top your summertime hot dogs. In their newly released "Wieners Gone Wild!: Out-of-the-Ballpark Recipes for Extraordinary Hot Dogs," published by Running Press, the humble dog is reimagined with a series of unconventional toppings, sauces and even substitutes for the plain, split-top bun.

Schmidt and Penn, who live in Wenham, Mass., are business partners in Hollan Publishing. As part of Hollan's operations, they develop ideas in-house and search for authors to bring the concepts to life. The hot dog connoisseurs first came up with the title "at a hotel bar in Dallas," they said, jotting down all of the 40 recipe ideas in one sitting. And when they couldn't find a writer to work on the book, the avid cooks decided to do it themselves.

The recipes are divided into several categories. "Down n'Dirty Wieners" include a Porked dog topped with macaroni and cheese and pulled pork and a Hushed Puppy dog deep-fried in a corn batter and topped with collard green relish. Two others make use of alternative bread forms: the Thanksgiving dog with gravy, stuffing and cranberry sauce is sandwiched between rectangles of cornbread, and the chicken and waffle dog, with a chicken-fried wiener, is wrapped in a buttermilk-pecan waffle and finished with maple butter.

"Show Dogs" are among the most innovative recipes in the book: the Horn Dog plays on aphrodisiacs with figs, smoked oysters and champagne mustard; a Mardi Gras dog uses an andouille sausage base topped with blackened shrimp and remoulade and the Apple Pie dog melds sweet and savory, baked into pie crust with sauteed apples and onions and drizzled with ginger honey mustard.

Dogs with "bite" include the Weiner au Poivre, with black peppercorns and a cognac cream sauce; a Soul Dog on a buttermilk biscuit with barbecue sauce and cheesy grits; a buffalo dog with blue cheese and celery and others loaded with jalapenos, chili and roasted garlic. And the "dogs with passports" are infused with international flavor: French-inspired "bark bourgignon" with red wine-braised short ribs and "Fifi" with Brie, leeks and pate; "German Shepherd's" Pie with mashed potatoes and sweet corn relish; a paella dog with chorizo, sofrito and Spanish yellow rice and the Asian-inspired Weenie Rangoon and General Tso dogs, both wrapped in wontons with dipping sauces to match.

Surprisingly, Schmidt and Penn said there were no outtakes from the initial recipe list. "What amazed us was how well the smokiness of the hot dog and the saltiness really just interacted very well with a lot of the different flavors. We couldn't wait to taste them," said Penn.

Many of the toppings, sauces and breads listed in the book's recipes are made from scratch, per the authors' preference. "We lean that way because it all tastes about a hundred times better than the stuff you buy at the store, and we like to cook," they write. But they're quick to say they aren't "snobs."

"This is not meant to be a haute cuisine book; [we] take an item that we all know and love and have a lot more fun," Penn said. "If you want to substitute [traditional hot dogs] for a tofu dog, chicken dog, that's totally up to you."

"Everyone has a happy hot dog memory, whether it's a cookout or a baseball game," said Schmidt. "Some recipes are complex and some are really easy. They're all really fun. We wanted to show people what was possible."